By Jessica Domel
News Editor
Potatoes grow on trees. Milk comes from the grocery store. All corn is sweet.
Food and farm myths are abundant nowadays as are so-called experts who promote them online.
To combat these myths, one county Farm Bureau (CFB) did what no other CFB in Texas has done. It hired an agricultural program coordinator.
“We have 10 board members,” Don Fuchs, vice president of the Brazoria-Galveston CFB, said. “And we couldn’t do it all.”
Finding volunteers for one ag day can be hard enough, especially during planting and harvest.
For Brazoria and Galveston county leaders to reach every child, they’d have to find volunteers for ag days at 17 school districts—one of which has eight high schools. There are also more than 40 private schools in the area and a number of home-schooled children.
“Our board is all volunteers,” Fuchs said. “That’s a hard job. We’ve done some field days and things like that with individual schools and classes. It just didn’t feel like we were doing an adequate job of educating.”
So after months of discussion, building a job description and conducting interviews, the CFB found a passionate advocate for agriculture–Kiley Thomas.
Thomas has a degree in Agricultural Leadership and Development from Texas A&M University. She was active in both 4-H and FFA and hopes to use those skills to engage young children and possibly ignite a passion for agriculture.
“I was lucky enough to be around people who knew these things that I’m going out and teaching,” Thomas said. “I thought kids knew where milk came from and things like that. The more and more I learned, I realized these kids don’t know and we’re falling away from that.”
A few months into the position, Thomas is working with the Agricultural Education department at the Texas Farm Bureau headquarters in Waco to come up with fun and educational ways to engage students.
She’s also working with 4-H, FFA, AgriLife Extension and school officials across her area to find the best ways to reach out to families.
“We’re trying to go deeper than, ‘that’s a cow in the pasture,’” Thomas said. “We want to make them think.”
Thomas won’t be working alone to spread the word about Texas agriculture. Local farmers, ranchers and volunteers are still needed to share their stories.
“Long term, I’d like to see us be able to reach every school district and private school, plus develop a program for the home-school kids, but that’s going to take a while,” Fuchs said. “I’d like to see this as maybe a stepping stone for programs for other county Farm Bureaus.”
Thomas is up for the task as many of her personal goals align with the CFB’s.
“This is a job where you can learn, and you’re always moving and doing things,” Thomas said.
Continuing to learn and grow are both goals of Thomas’. And her first school visit provided both.
“Once I got in there, it was just natural,” Thomas said. “They learn a lot, but you learn a lot too when you’re with them. They’re just ecstatic to learn these things.”
Lessons as simple as planting a seed in the ground to grow a plant delight young students who have never had that experience.
“Kids are the future of our country,” Fuchs said. “If they don’t understand where food and fiber come from, they think it just comes from the grocery store. They’re going to have a rude awakening someday if they don’t support agriculture in this country.”
That’s something Fuchs and Thomas hope they can help prevent by continuing to engage their community at every possible opportunity.
It’s their passion and knowledge that Thomas hopes to continue to spread as she serves Brazoria-Galveston CFB as their agricultural program coordinator.